The IPL 2021 auction has been ended. The eight franchises have completed their auction buys, trying to fill the gaps they experienced in the last season. Some have been more successful than others in building squads with all-round strength. In this article, we look at the best possible elevens the eight franchises can field in the IPL 2021.
Mumbai Indians
MI’s auction buys include Nathan Coulter Nile (USD 680,000), Adam Milne (USD 435000), Piyush Chawla (USD 325000), James Neesham (USD 68500), Yudhvir Charak (USD 27000), Marco Jansen (USD 27000), Arjun Tendulkar (USD 27000). Apart from these players, the squad led by Rohit Sharma includes Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Chris Lynn, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Mohsin Khan, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult. MI’s best possible eleven would include Sharma, De Kock, Suryakumar, Kishan, Pollard, Hardik, Krunal, Jayant, Coulter-Nile, Boult and Bumrah.
Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals auction buys include Tom Curran (INR 5.25 crore), Steven Smith (USD 300000), Sam Billings (USD 270000), Umesh Yadav (USD 135000), Ripal Patel (USD 27000), Vishnu Vinod (USD 27000), Lukman Meriwala (USD 27000), M Siddharth (USD 27000). Other than these players, the squad led by Shreyas Iyer has Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Chris Woakes, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Lalit Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Praveen Dubey, Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer. The best possible eleven should include Shaw, Dhawan, Smith, Iyer, Pant, Stoinis, Patel, Rabada, Ashwin, Nortje, Ishant Sharma/Umesh Yadav.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
SRH have invested in the following players at the IPL auction: Kedar Jadhav (USD 270000), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (USD 200000), J Suchith (USD 40000). In addition to the auction buys, the squad led by David Warner includes Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jason Holder, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Khaleel Ahmed, Manish Pandey, Mitchell Marsh, Mohammad Nabi, Priyam Garg, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shreevats Goswami, Siddarth Kaul, T Natarajan, Vijay Shankar, Virat Singh and Wriddhiman Saha. SRH’s best possible eleven chosen from this squad would include Garg, Warner, Williamson, Pandey, Kedar, Samad, Rashid, Mujeeb, Nadeem, Bhuvneshwar, Natarajan.
RoRoyal Challengers Bangalore
B invested in the following players at the IPL auction: Kyle Jamieson (USD 2,000,000), Glenn Maxwell (USD 1,950,000), Daniel Christian (USD 650,000), Sachin Baby (USD 27000), Rajat Patidar (USD 27000), Mohammed Azharuddeen (USD 27000), Suyash Prabhudesai (USD 27000), KS Bharat (USD 27000). Apart from the auction buys, the squad led by Virat Kohli also has AB de Villiers, Adam Zampa, Daniel Sams, Devdutt Padikkal, Harshal Patel, Joshua Philippe, Kane Richardson, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahmed, Washington Sundar, and Yuzvendra Chahal. RCB’s best possible eleven would be Philippe, Padikkal, Kohli, De Villiers, Maxwell, Sundar, Jamieson, Shahbaz, Chahal, Saini, Siraj.
KolkatKolkata Knight Riders
buys at the IPL auction include Shakib Al Hasan (USD 435,000), Harbhajan Singh (USD 270,000), Ben Cutting (USD 100,000), Karun Nair (USD 66,000), Pawan Negi (USD 66,000), Sheldon Jackson (USD 27000), Venkatesh Iyer (USD 27000), Vaibhav Arora (USD 27000). Apart from these players, the squad led by Morgan has Russell, Dinesh Karthik, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert, Varun Chakravarthy. The best possible eleven should have Gill, Rana, Tripathi, Morgan, Karthik, Shakib, Narine, Cummins, Chakravarthy, Mavi.
Punjab Punjab Kings
ly renamed Punjab Kings bought the following players at the auction: Jhye Richardson (USD 1,900,000), Riley Meredith (USD 1,100,000), Shahrukh Khan (USD 720,000), Moises Henriques (USD 575,000), Dawid Malan (USD 200,000), Fabian Allen (USD 100,000), Jalaj Saxena (USD 40,000), Saurabh Kumar (USD 27000), Utkarsh Singh (USD 27000). Apart from the auction buys, the squad led by KL Rahul includes Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Deepak Hooda, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami, Murugan Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Prabhsimran Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Sarfaraz Khan. The best possible eleven from this squad should have Rahul, Agarwal, Gayle, Pooran, Mandeep, Hooda, Henriques, Richardson, M Ashwin, Bishnoi, Shami.
ChennaiChennai Super Kings
rong>bought the following players in the IPL auction for the 2021 season: K Gowtham (USD 1,260,000), Moeen Ali (USD 960,000), Cheteshwar Pujara (USD 70,000), K Bhagath Varma (USD 27000), C Hari Nishaanth (USD 27000), M Harisankar Reddy (USD 27000). Apart from these players, the complete squad led by MS Dhoni includes Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Josh Hazlewood, Karn Sharma, KM Asif, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Narayan Jagadeesan, R Sai Kishore, Ravindra Jadeja, Robin Uthappa, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Suresh Raina. The following are the best possible eleven that CSK could field: Gaikwad, Du Plessis, Rayudu, Raina, Gowtham, Moeen, Dhoni, Curran, Thakur and Chahar.
RajasthRajasthan Royals
ong>bought the following players at the IPL auction: Chris Morris (USD 2,225,000), Shivam Dube (USD 600,000), Chetan Sakariya (USD 164,000), Mustafizur Rahman (USD 135,000), Liam Livingstone (USD 100,000), Akash Singh (USD 27000), KC Cariappa (USD 27000), Kuldip Yadav (USD 27000). The squad led by Sanju Samson includes, in addition to the above players, Andrew Tye, Anuj Rawat, Ben Stokes, David Miller, Jaydev Unadkat, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Kartik Tyagi, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal and Yashasvi Jaiswal. RR’s best possible eleven from this squad would include Samson, Buttler, Stokes, Parag, Tewatia, Dube, Gopal, Kuldeep Yadav, Archer, Tyagi and Morris.
ConclusioConclusion
rong>analysing the compositions of the best elevens of the various franchises ahead of the IPL 2021, we find that defending champions Mumbai Indians have the most settled eleven of all, virtually unchanged from the players that featured in last season’s final. DC made a surprise buy in Steven Smith and having invested in him, will have to define his role very clearly, something RR failed to do last season. SRH appear to have a balanced squad, at least on paper, with Kedar Jadhav providing stability in the middle order. However, they could rue the lack of an overseas pacer. RCB, PK and RR have all failed to obtain an experienced Indian player to plug the gap in the middle order. Following the return of Shakib, KKR must choose between Russell and Narine, depending on the form displayed by the overseas players.
